Gravity in the Beautiful Game: Labor Market Liberalization and Footballer Migration

Ben Hamilton ()
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Ben Hamilton: James Madison University College of Business

Open Economies Review, 2024, vol. 35, issue 3, No 4, 547-573

Abstract: Abstract Until 1996, mobility costs for football players in Europe were high. Clubs retained rights to players when their contracts expired and were able to prevent free agents from signing with new clubs. In a 1995 verdict known as the “Bosman Ruling," the European Court of Justice determined that the rules governing player transfers between clubs violated the Treaty of Rome provision of labor mobility across European Union countries and must be revised, reducing the requirements players must meet to change clubs. This paper makes two contributions. First, it estimates a gravity model of bilateral player migration flows and stocks using a Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimator, obtaining results similar to international trade: players are more likely to move to a league that is closer to their native country, one where their native language is spoken, and one where their compatriots also compete. Second, it finds that the measured effect of distance on depressing migration flows fell by about one-third of its pre-Bosman level after the 1995 ECJ ruling.

Keywords: Gravity; International migration; Trade barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J61 Z28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11079-023-09733-6

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